Swiss City ‘Zug’ To Test Blockchain Voting

The “Crypto-Valley” of Switzerland, Zug, will be the first city in the world to conduct a blockchain based Municipal voting test. The event that is supposed to take place between June 25 and July 1 will be Switzerland’s first municipal vote using blockchain system. The voting will be done using the city’s ID system, which was set up in November last year and has about 200 users. The voters will be able to vote by using their smartphones by downloading an existing application uPort and registering in it.

The affluent city of Zug that is known to be home for maximum blockchain startups has made its name to be “crypto valley” of the world. The city has become the “world’s leading ecosystem crypto, blockchain and distributed ledger technologies” centre. The city already accepts payment for certain services in form of cryptocurrencies.

The voters will be able to vote on issues like – whether they think digital IDs should be used to borrow books from the library or pay parking fees. They will be asked if the blockchain system can be used for regular referendum votes in the future. The voting system is currently on trial and the results will be non-binding on the city authorities.

Switzerland boasts of a couple of cities, including Zug, to have launched electronic digital ID systems. The country is also the most blockchain friendly nation in Europe, all thanks to the “Crypto Valley” and the tax-free policy for crypto investors.

A national digital ID system called SwissSign was founded in Zurich in the year 2001 and was launched by a consortium of banks, insurance companies, stock exchange operator, Swiss post and Swiss Federal Railways. Though not all ID systems will be used for voting, the Swiss government is trying it’s best to introduce electronic voting in their country. Hypothekarbank Lenzburg Bank, a private entity, became the first bank of Switzerland to provide accounts to blockchain and cryptocurrency companies.